Information first reported by Adam Woods, editor of the Irish Farmers Journal, has highlighted growing concerns over Brazil's ability to comply with new European Union antibiotic regulations due to come into force later this year.
Brazilian beef exports to the European Union could face major disruption from September as concerns grow over the country's ability to comply with the new rules.
The regulations, which take effect on September 3 prohibit the use of antibiotics as growth promoters and place strict restrictions on the use of antimicrobial products considered critical to human medicine. Importantly, exporters must be able to demonstrate compliance throughout an animal's lifetime.
However, questions remain over whether Brazil can provide the level of traceability required to satisfy EU authorities.
Read more
-
EU threatens Brazilian meat ban over antibiotic resistance concerns
-
IFA protests Bord Bia decision to retain chair amid Brazilian beef row
Reporting in the Irish Farmers Journal detailed concerns arising from a joint IFJ and Irish Farmers’ Association visit to Brazil in November 2025. The investigation found significant gaps in the monitoring and regulation of antibiotic sales and use within the Brazilian livestock sector.
According to the report, Brazil currently lacks a nationwide traceability system capable of tracking antimicrobial use throughout an animal's life. Industry sources suggest a fully operational individual animal traceability system may not be completed until 2032, with some insiders warning that even this target could prove optimistic.
Without such a system, concerns have been raised over how Brazilian authorities can verify compliance with the EU's new import requirements.
Brazilian officials have sought to negotiate transitional arrangements with the European Commission. Under proposals put forward by the Brazilian government, beef processors would have been required to demonstrate that cattle had not received prohibited antibiotics during the nine months prior to slaughter, with full lifetime traceability requirements being introduced by 2029.
However, it is understood that the European Commission has rejected requests for flexibility, insisting that the new regulations will apply in full from September.
If no alternative solution can be found, Brazilian beef exports to the EU could face severe restrictions until a comprehensive traceability system is established.
The timing is particularly significant given the growing importance of the European market for Brazilian exporters. Brazilian export figures show that 34,700 tonnes of beef were shipped to the EU during the first quarter of 2026, representing an increase of almost 18% compared with the same period last year.
The developments also cast uncertainty over the future operation of the newly implemented Mercosur beef quota arrangement. The wider EU–Mercosur trade deal has already entered into provisional force, with the first quarterly beef quota allocations to EU importers made in May and further allocations due later in the year, even as full ratification remains politically contested.
Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay are understood to have reached agreement on how the quota will be shared, with allocations based on a formula that combines historic exports to the EU and export performance in global markets. The methodology is expected to leave Brazil with the largest share of the quota, although how that share is used is for the Mercosur countries themselves to decide.
However, it remains unclear what would happen to Brazil's allocation if its beef sector becomes unable to access the EU market because of the antibiotic regulations.
Any disruption to Brazilian exports could tighten EU beef supplies and strengthen demand for domestically produced beef.
Share